Ukraine revives old case against Tymoshenko

By
Euronews

Fresh charges of embezzlement are being made by Ukraine’s state prosecutor against the now jailed former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.

The move comes despite a Western outcry over her seven-year imprisonment earlier this month.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office – Yuri Boichenko – said that pre-trial investigations into Yulia Tymoshenko’s criminal case were now being carried out by tax police.

The new charges date back to the mid-1990s when Tymoshenko ran an energy company. The case had originally been dropped after the Orange Revolution swept her to power.

Deputy Head of Tymoshenko’s bloc, Olexander Turchinov condemned the move: “This can only be explained by fear, the willingness to avenge and the weakness of this regime and not by logic. There is no other explanation for the resurrecting of the Energy Systems case.”

Tymoshenko who says she is a victim of a political vendetta by her arch rival President Viktor Yanukovych, has decided to appeal her recent trial in which she was found guilty of exceeding her powers while prime minister.